St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1887-01-29
on BROKEN PIECES"
Ecrmon by Row. T. De Witt Tai
mage, D. D.
lessons Drawn from a Notable Ship"fech
in the Struggle with Sin ana Dooo~
Let All Else Go and Cling to
the Beam of the Cross


BROOKLYN, N. Y, Jan. '16-Dr. 1almaSe
took for his text this morning part of the
fortv-fourth verse of the twenty seventh
chapter of Acts: "Some on broken pieces
of the ship.n He then said:
Never off Goodwin Sands, or the Skier
ries. or Cape Hatteras, was ship in worse
predicament than in the Mediterranean
hurricane was the grain ship, on which two
hundred and seventy-six passengers were
driven on the coast of Malta, five miles
from the metropolis of that island called
Cj!ta Vecchia After a two weeks tenn
pest in which the ship was entirely dis
abed and captain and crew had become
completely demoraliZed, an old missionary
took command of the vessel. He was small,
crooked backed and sore-eyed, according
to tradition. 1t was Paul, the only I'M
scared man aboard. He was no more
afraid of Euroclydon tossing the Mediter-
ranean Sea, now up to the gates of Heaven,
and now sinking to the gates of hell, than
he was of kitten playing with string.
He ordered them all down to take their
rations, first asking for them a blessing.
Then he insured all their lives, telling them
they would be rescued, and, SO far from
losing their heads, they would not lose so
much of their hair as you could cut off with
one click of the scissors; aye, not a thread
of it, whether it were gray with age or
golden with youth. ''There shall not a
hair fall from the head of any of you"
Knowing that they can never get to the
desired port, they make the sea on the four
teenth night black with overthrown cargo,
SO that when the ship strikes it will not
strike so heavily. At daybreak they saw
a creek, and in their exigency resolved to
make for it. And so they cut the cables,
took in the two paddles that they had on
these old boats, and hoisted the mainsail,
so that they might come up with such force
as to be driven high up on the beach by
some fortunate biliow. There she goes,
tumbling towards the rocks; now Prov
foremost; now stern foremost; now roll
ing over to starboard; now wave dashes
clear over the deck, and it seems as if the
old craft has gone forever. But up she
comes again. Paul's arm around mast,
he cries. ''All is well; God has given me
all those that sail with me.'
Crash! went the PROV with such force
that it broke Off the mast Crash! went
the timbers till the seas rushed through
from side to side of the vessel. She parted
arnid-ships, and into thousand fragments
the vessel goes, and into the waves two
hundred and seventy-six immortals are
precipitated. Some of them had been
brought up on the sea-shore and had
learned to swim, and with their chin just
above the waves and by stroke of both
arms and propulsion of both feet they put
out for the beach and reach it. But, alas,
for those othersi They had never learned to
swim, or they were wounded by the falling
of the mast, or the nervous shock was too
great for them. And others had been
weakened by long seasickness.
Oh, what will become of them? "Take
that piece of rudder," says Paul to one.
'Take that fragment of SPAR" says Paul
to another. ''Take that table" s'Take
that image of Castor and Pollok" "Taks
that plank from the Ifeboat" ''Take any
thing and head for the beach" What
struggle for life in the breakers! Oh, the
merciless waters, how they sweep over
the heads of men, women and children
Hold on there! Almost ashore, keep up
your couragei Remem Der what Paul told
you.
There, the receding wave on the beach
leaves in the saud a whole family; there
crawls up out of the surf the centurion;
there another plank comes in with life
cllnging fast to it; there another piece Of
the shattered vessel with its freightage of
an immortal soul. They must by this time
all be saved. Yes, there comes in last Of
all-for he had been overseeing the rest
the old missionary, who wrings the water
from his gray beard and cri es out: THANK
God AL are herep'
Gather them around fire and call the
roll. Paul builds a fire, and when the
bundles of sticks begin to crackle, and, |
and sitting around the blaze, the I
passengers begin to recover from their |
Chill and their wet clothes begin to dry
and warmth begins to come into all the |
passengers, let the purser of the
vessel go round and see if any Of the poor
are missing. Not one of that
crowd that were plunged into the sea. How
it relieves our anxiety as we read: "Some
Oh broken pieces of the ship, and so
1t came to past they all escaped safe to
and.n
Having on previous occasions looked at
,he other passengers, confine myself to-
lay to an examination of those who came
n on broken pieces of the ship. There is
something about them that excites in me
IN intense interest I am not so much in
crested in those that could swim. They
rot ashore as expected. A mile OF water
,
WINNER, or even two miles are not. But
can not stop thinking about those on
,roken pieces of the ship.
The great Gospel ship is the finest vessel
# the universe and can carry more passen-
,ers than any craft ever constructed, and
'ou could no more wreck it than you could
wreck the throne Of God Almighty. I
wish all the people would come aboard Of
ler could not promise smooth voyage,
or oft times it would be a tempestuous or
chopped sea, but could promise safe
arrival for all who took passage on that
Ireat Eastern, SO called by me because its
commander came out Of the east, the star
II the east o badge of His authority.
But vast multitude do not take regular
passage Their theology is broken in
pieces, and their life is broken in pieces,
md their worldly and spiritual prospects
re broken in pieces, and yet believe they
re going to reach the shining shore, and I
IN encouraged by the experiences of those
,eODle who are sno1xen of ~ %ho 4ovt. |